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Catalyst2950 and Catalyst2955 Switch Software Configuration Guide
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Preface

Audience

This guide is for the networking professional managing the Catalyst 2950 and 2955 switches, hereafter
referred to as the switches. Before using this guide, you should have experience working with the Cisco
IOS and be familiar with the concepts and terminology of Ethernet and local area networking.

Purpose

This guide provides the information you need to configure soft ware fe a ture s o n y our sw it ch. Th e
Catalyst 2950 switch is supported by either the standard software image (SI) or the enhanced software image
(EI). The Catalyst 2955 and Catalyst 2950 Long-Reach Ethernet (LRE) switches are supported only by the EI.
The EI provides a richer set of features, including access control lists (ACLs), enhanced quality of service
(QoS) features, extended-range VLANs, Remote Switched Port Analyzer (RSPAN), and unicast MAC
address filtering. The cryptographic EI provides support for the Secure Shell Protocol (SSP). For a list of
switches that support the SI and the EI, see Table 1 -1 in Chapter 1, “Overview.”
The Catalyst 2955 switch also supports an additional set of features that are described in Chapter3,
“Configuring Catalyst 2955 Switch Alarms.” The switch has facilities to process alarms related to the
temperature, power supply conditions, and status of the Ethernet ports.
Use this guide with other documents for information about these topics:
•Requirements—This guide assumes that you have met the hardware and software requirement s and
cluster compatibility requirements described in the release notes.
•Start-up information—This guide assumes that you have assigned switch IP information and
passwords by using the browser setup program described in the switch hardware installation guide .
•Cluster Management Suite (CMS) information—This guide provides an overview of the CMS
web-based, switch management interface. For information about CMS requi reme nts an d th e
procedures for browser and plug-in configuration and accessing CMS, refer to the release no tes. For
CMS field-level window descriptions and procedures, refer to the CMS online help.
•Cluster configuration—This guide provides information about planning for, creating, and
maintaining switch clusters. Because configuring switch clusters is most easily performed through
CMS, this guide does not provide the command-line interface (CLI) procedures. For the cluster
commands, refer to the command reference for this release.
•CLI command information—This guide provides an overview for using the CLI. For complete
syntax and usage information about the commands that have been specifically created or changed
for the switches, refer to the command reference for this release.